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FORTY  OF 
BOSTON'S 
HISTORIC 
HOUSES 


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FORTY    OF    BOSTON'S 
HISTORIC    HOUSES 


A  BRIEF 

ILLUSTRATED  DESCRIPTION 

OF  THE  RESIDENCES  OF  HISTORIC   CHARACTERS  OF   BOSTON 

WHO  HAVE  LIVED   IN   OR  NEAR   THE 

BUSINESS  SECTION 


PRINTED    FOR    THE 

STATE   STREET   TRUST   COMPANY 

BOSTON   MASSACHUSETTS 


COPYRIGHTED 
igi2  BY  THE 
STATE  STREET 
TRUST  COMPANY 


COMPILED  ARRANGED 
AND  PRINTED  UNDER 
THE  DIRECTION  OF  THE 
WALTON  ADVERTISING 
AND  PRINTING  COMPANY 
BOSTON    MASSACHUSETTS 


P  73.7 

„  S  77 


7^ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/fortyofbostonshi1912stat 


FOREWORD 


IT  gives  the  State  Street  Trust  Company  pleasure  to 
present  to  you  the  sixth  of  the  historical  monographs 
relating  to  Boston  that  have  been  issued  by  the  Com- 
pany. The  brochure  presents  illustrations  and  brief 
sketches  of  the  homes,  in  or  near  the  business  section,  of 
those  who  have  been  the  leaders  of  Boston  in  art,  science, 
business,  and  politics.  It  does  not  aim  to  be  a  complete  list 
of  such  houses,  but  to  present  only  forty  of  the  most  inter- 
esting ones. 

The  State  Street  Trust  Company  desires  to  acknowledge 
the  courtesy  of  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green,  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  and  Mr.  Charles  F.  Read,  of  the  Bos- 
tonian  Society.  It  also  desires  to  acknowledge  the  courtesy 
of  Messrs.  Little,  Brown  and  Company,  Houghton  Mifflin 
Company,  and  Mr.  Charles  H.  Stark  in  permitting  the  use 
of  illustrations  from  some  of  their  publications. 

We  hope  that  this  small  book  may  be  of  sufficient  interest 
to  find  a  place  in  your  library. 


fe, 


THE  OLD  TRAVELLER  BUILDING 

AFTER  THE   ALTERATIONS    OF  THE   ROGERS    BUILDINGS 

It  is  now  the  site  of  the  Worthington  Building,  the  new  home  of  the  State  Street 
Trust  Company.  On  this  site  stood  in  1650  the  homestead  of  Elder  Thomas 
Leverett,  who  settled  in  Boston  in  1633,  and  was  with  John  Cotton  one  of  the  first 
elders  of  the  First  Church.  In  1709  the  property  was  owned  by  Thomas  MacCarty, 
and  was  known  as  MacCarty's  Corner.  Here  Benjamin  Russell  in  1784  began  the 
publication  of  the  Columbian  Sentinel.  The  Rogers  Buildings,  erected  about  1800, 
was  one  of  the  first  brick  blocks  in  Boston.  It  was  sold  in  1811  to  James  Harrison, 
who  in  turn  sold  it  to  Daniel  Dennison  Rogers,  when  the  block  was  known  as  Rogers 
Buildings.  In  1833  Henry  B.  Rogers,  son  of  the  former,  sold  it  to  Israel  Thorndike, 
and  it  became  known  as  Thorndike's  Buildings.  In  1838  Israel  Thorndike  sold  it  to 
the  National  Insurance  Company,  but  it  continued  to  be  known  as  Thorndike's 
Buildings  until  the  Evening  Traveller  took  up  its  quarters  here  in  185 1.  It  was  known 
as  the  Old  Traveller  Building  from  December,  185 1,  to  1894,  when  it  was  torn  down 
to  make  way  for  the  present  Worthington  Building,  which  was  built  in  1895.  The 
property  from  1856  to  1884  was  owned  by  Peter  Chardon  Brooks,  or  his  estate. 
Mr.  Roland  Worthington  purchased  it  in  April,  1884. 


PROVINCE  HOUSE 

Washington  Street 

The  house  which  later  became  the  Province  House  was  erected  in  1679  by 
Peter  Sergeant,  a  leading  Boston  merchant  of  his  time.  In  1716,  after  Sergeant's 
death,  the  estate  was  bought  for  twenty-three  hundred  pounds  by  the  Province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  as  the  official  residence  of  the  Royal  Governors,  all  of  whom 
lived  there.  After  the  Revolution  the  residence,  then  the  property  of  the  State 
of  Massachusetts,  was  called  the  Government  House  for  some  years,  and  it  later 
became  a  tavern,  and  still  later  was  the  home  of  minstrelsy,  a  theatre  having  been 
built  within  its  walls.  What  remains  of  the  Province  House  is  now  incorporated 
into  a  business  building,  and  a  portion  of  the  northern  wall,  probably  the  oldest 
brickwork  in  the  city,  can  be  seen  at  the  present  time  in  the  rear  of  323  to  331 
Washington  Street,  in  that  portion  of  the  street  known  as  Marlborough  Street  in 
Provincial  days. 


HANCOCK   HOUSE 
Beacon  Street 

The  Hancock  house  was  built  in  1737  by  Thomas  Hancock,  an  eminent  Boston 
merchant  of  his  day,  who  resided  in  it  until  his  death  in  1764.  After  the  death  of 
his  widow  in  1776,  it  became  the  property  and  home  of  their  distinguished  nephew, 
John  Hancock,  the  patriot  whose  bold  autograph  was  the  first  affixed  to  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence.  He  lived  in  the  house  until  his  death  in  1795,  which  occurred 
while  he  was  filling  the  high  office  of  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachu- 
setts. During  the  siege  of  Boston  the  Hancock  house  was  a  British  military  head- 
quarters, and  subsequently  it  was  the  scene  of  generous  hospitality  bestowed  by  its 
wealthy  owner  on  his  distinguished  friends.  It  was  torn  down  in  1863,  to  the  regret  of 
antiquarians,  and  its  site  is  covered  to-day  by  the  estates  29  and  30  Beacon  Street. 


FANEUIL-PHILLIPS   HOUSE 

Tremont  Street 

The  Faneuil-Phillips  house  was  built  1709  by  Andrew  Faneuil,  a  rich  Boston 
merchant,  who  was  a  French  Huguenot  by  birth.  At  his  death  in  1738  the  estate, 
seven  acres  in  extent,  became  by  his  will  the  property  of  his  nephew,  Peter  Faneuil, 
who  continued  to  conduct  the  business  and  dispense  the  hospitality  of  the  family. 
As  he  was  unmarried,  he  was  assisted  in  the  latter  by  his  sister  Mary  Ann  Faneuil, 
who  shared  the  family  mansion  with  him.  Peter  Faneuil  gave  to  the  town  of  Boston 
in  1742  the  hall  which  bears  his  name  and  which  has  always  been  known  as  "The 
Cradle  of  Liberty."  After  his  death  in  1743  the  Faneuil  house  had  several  owners. 
At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  one  of  the  Vassall  family  owned  it,  and,  they  being 
Tories,  it  was  confiscated  and  sold  in  1783  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  to 
Isaiah  Doane.  It  was  the  home  of  William  Phillips,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State 
from  1812  until  his  death  in  1827.  In  1835,  at  the  time  of  extensive  operations  on 
Tremont  Street,  Tremont  Row,  and  Pemberton  Square,  on  the  easterly  slope  of  Pem- 
berton  Hill,  the  mansion  was  taken  down  and  the  acres  covered  with  business  build- 
ings and  residences.  The  site  of  the  house  is  covered  to-day  by  the  Carney  Building, 
opposite  King's  Chapel  Burying-ground. 


VASSALL  HOUSE 

Summer  Street 

The  Vassall  house  was  built  on  Seven  Star  Lane,  now  Summer  Street,  about 
1727  by  Leonard  Vassall,  a  rich  West  Indian  planter.  At  his  death  in  1737  the 
estate,  which  measured  sixty-eight  by  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet,  was  sold 
to  Thomas  Hubbard  for  six  hundred  pounds.  It  was  the  home  for  nearly  forty  years 
of  Thomas  Hubbard,  who  was  a  distinguished  Bostonian  of  his  day  and  who  was 
treasurer  of  Harvard  College  for  twenty-one  years.  It  was  next  the  property  of 
Frederick  William  Guyer,  and,  as  he  was  a  Loyalist,  it  was  confiscated  by  the  Com- 
monwealth. It  was,  however,  placed  in  Mr.  Guyer's  possession  again  in  1789,  when 
he  returned  to  Boston  and  was  restored  to  citizenship.  In  1803,  the  year  before  he 
died,  Mr.  Guyer  sold  the  estate  to  Samuel  P.  Gardner,  ancestor  of  the  late  John  L. 
Gardner,  of  Boston,  and  it  is  still  in  possession  of  that  family.  About  1843  this  relic 
of  Provincial  Boston  was  demolished,  and  the  granite  business  building  (now  occu- 
pied by  the  firm  of  C.  F.  Hovey  &  Co.)  was  erected  on  the  site. 


FOSTER-HUTCHINSON  HOUSE 
Garden  Court 

The  Foster-Hutchinson  house  was  probably  built  by  John  Foster  about  the 
year  1686,  as  in  that  year  he  bought  the  land,  which  became  his  estate,  from  Richard 
Wharton.  John  Foster  was  a  wealthy  Boston  merchant  who  was  prominent  in 
official  and  military  life.  He  died,  intestate,  in  1711,  and  his  wife,  surviving  him 
but  two  months,  bequeathed  the  bulk  of  the  family  estate,  including  the  "dwelling 
or  brick  mansion,"  to  her  nephew,  Captain  Thomas  Hutchinson.  He  and  his  dis- 
tinguished son  of  the  same  name,  who  was  Governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay  from 
1 771  to  1774,  occupied  it  in  turn  until  1765,  when  it  was  sacked  by  a  mob  who  thus 
showed  their  disapproval  of  Hutchinson's  action,  while  Lieutenant-Governor,  in  the 
enforcement  of  the  obnoxious  Stamp  Act.  The  estate  was  later  confiscated  and 
sold  to  William  Little,  merchant,  and  for  many  years  appraiser  at  the  Custom  House, 
who  occupied  it  until  his  death  in  1831.  Another  occupant  at  this  time  was  Colonel 
John  P.  Boyd,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Little,  and  Naval  Officer  of  Boston  in  1830.  Like 
its  neighbor,  the  Clark-Frankland  house,  the  Foster-Hutchinson  mansion  was  demol- 
ished in  1833,  when  Bell  Alley  was  widened  and  made  a  continuation  of  Prince 
Street. 


EBENEZER  HANCOCK  HOUSE 

Marshall's  Lane 

There  is  to  be  seen  at  the  present  time  in  Marshall  Street,  opposite  the  "Boston 
Stone,"  the  ancient  eighteenth-century  building  which  was  formerly  the  home  of 
Ebenezer  Hancock,  a  younger  brother  of  John  Hancock,  the  patriot.  Through  the 
latter's  influence  while  President  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  Philadelphia, 
Ebenezer  Hancock  was  appointed  in  1776  Deputy  Paymaster-General  of  the  Con- 
tinental Army.  This  appointment  made  his  home  an  important  place  during  the 
Revolution  for  disbursement  of  money  to  the  troops.  Ebenezer  Hancock,  however, 
left  the  house  many  years  before  his  death  in  1819,  and  by  the  year  1789  it  had 
become  the  property  of  Ebenezer  Frothingham,  a  china  and  glass  merchant,  who 
had  his  store  in  the  first  story.  In  1798  Benjamin  Fuller,  a  shoe  dealer,  also  had 
a  shop  in  the  building,  and  he  in  turn  was  followed  about  the  year  182 1  by  William 
H.  Learnard,  who  continued  the  shoe  business  until  his  death  in  1886.  The  same 
trade  is  carried  on  to-day  in  one  of  the  stores,  the  rest  of  the  ancient  house  being 
devoted  to  restaurant  and  tavern  purposes. 


DALTON  HOUSE 

Congress  Street 

James  Dalton,  a  sea-captain,  bought  in  1756  an  estate  situated  between  Milk 
and  Water  Streets,  and  on  this  estate  built  a  mansion  in  1758.  At  about  this  same 
time  a  new  street  was  laid  out  by  the  town  of  Boston,  on  which  the  house  fronted. 
This  thoroughfare  was  called  Dalton  Street,  and  became  Congress  Street  in  1800. 
After  Captain  Dalton's  death  in  1783,  the  house  was  occupied  by  his  son,  Peter  Roe 
Dalton,  who  was  Deputy  Commissary-General  of  Supplies  of  Issue  in  the  Conti- 
nental Army.  He  was  afterwards  cashier  of  the  Massachusetts  Bank,  and  still  later 
cashier  of  the  United  States  Branch  Bank.  His  death  occurred  in  the  house  in  181 1. 
When  the  Dalton  estate  was  sold,  the  front  portion  on  Congress  Street  was  covered 
by  a  row  of  brick  dwelling-houses,  which  were  later  altered  into  stores,  as  the  locality 
became  devoted  to  business.  These  were  in  turn  replaced  by  a  granite  business 
structure,  which  bore  the  name  Dalton  Block.  The  estate  is  now  the  site  of  the 
United  States  Post-office  Building. 


REVERE  HOUSE 

North  Square 

The  house  in  North  Square  which  was  for  years  the  home  of  Paul  Revere,  the 
Revolutionary  patriot,  was  probably  built  about  1676,  and  was  therefore  almost 
a  century  old  when  he  bought  it  in  1770  for  two  hundred  and  thirteen  pounds,  six 
shillings,  eight  pence.  In  this  house  his  first  wife,  Sarah  (Orne),  died  in  1773,  and 
to  it  he  brought,  in  less  than  six  months,  his  second  helpmate,  Rachel  (Walker). 
Here,  also,  were  born  the  majority  of  his  sixteen  children.  It  was  while  living  in 
North  Square  that  he  did  his  patriotic  service  as  the  Messenger  of  the  Revolution, 
and  he  lived  in  the  house  until  about  1788,  when  he  removed  to  another  house  in 
Charter  Street.  He  bought,  twelve  years  later,  on  the  same  street,  the  brick  man- 
sion in  which  he  lived  until  his  death.  Revere  was  an  engraver,  a  gold  and  silver 
smith,  and  a  bell  and  cannon  founder,  and  specimens  of  his  handicraft  are  now  much 
prized  as  heirlooms  of  an  heroic  past.  He  is  said  at  one  time  to  have  acted  as  a 
dentist.  The  patriot's  home  in  North  Square  has  been  restored  by  the  Paul  Revere 
House  Association,  and  is  a  notable  example  of  a  humble  home  of  the  older  time. 
It  is  now  one  of  the  foremost  attractions  of  the  Old  North  End  of  Boston. 


■:■■-.-..       .-,.    . 


CAPEN  HOUSE 

Union  Street 

The  Capen  house,  which  still  stands  at  Nos.  41  to  45  Union  Street,  bears  evi- 
dence, in  its  solid  belted  front  wall  and  ancient  roof,  that  it  was  built  about  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  although  the  northerly  portion  was  apparently 
built  at  a  later  period.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  buildings  in  that  locality.  Hopestill 
Capen  was  a  shopkeeper  in  this  building  for  many  years  before  his  death  in  1807, 
and  also  a  town  official  in  Boston  and  a  sergeant  in  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
Artillery  Company.  He  was  "the  master"  to  whom  was  apprenticed  in  1763 
Benjamin  Thompson,  of  Woburn,  Mass.,  who  later  became  a  distinguished  scientist, 
and  was  known  as  Count  Rumford.  Thomas  Capen,  a  son  of  Hopestill  Capen,  suc- 
ceeded his  father  as  a  shopkeeper  in  the  old  house,  and  owned  the  property  at  the 
time  of  his  death  in  1819.  It  was  then  appraised  at  five  thousand  dollars,  and  it 
is  still  assessed  to  the  heirs  of  Thomas  Capen.  The  oyster  business  has  been  con- 
ducted in  the  Capen  Building  by  tradesmen  bearing  the  name  of  Atwood  from  the 
year  1826  to  the  present  time.  It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  Massachusetts 
Spy  was  published  in  the  building  by  Isaiah  Thomas  from  1771  to  the  beginning  of 
the  Revolution,  when  it  was  removed  to  Worcester. 


BULFINCH  HOUSE 

Bowdoin  Square 

About  1724  John  Coleman,  a  Boston  merchant,  gave  adjoining  lots  of  land  in 
that  portion  of  Cambridge  Street,  West  Boston,  which  is  now  known  as  Bowdoin 
Square,  to  Dr.  Thomas  Bulfinch  and  Peter  Chardon,  who  had  married,  respectively, 
his  daughters  Judith  and  Sarah,  and  a  house  was  soon  built  on  each  estate.  Dr. 
Bulfinch,  who  was  a  physician,  lived  with  his  family  in  the  house  that  he  built  until 
his  death  in  1757.  His  only  son,  Thomas  Bulfinch,  was  likewise  a  physician,  and 
married  in  1759  Susan,  daughter  of  John  Apthorp  and  grand-daughter  of  Stephen 
Greenleaf,  last  Royal  High  Sheriff  of  Suffolk  County.  Dr.  Bulfinch,  the  younger, 
lived  in  the  house  until  his  death  in  1802,  and  about  then  the  estate  was  bought  by 
Joseph  Coolidge,  a  Boston  merchant,  as  a  home  for  his  son  Joseph  Coolidge,  who  had 
married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Bulfinch.  A  son  of  Dr.  Bulfinch  was  Charles  Bulfinch, 
who  was  born  in  the  house  in  1763.  He  was  the  distinguished  architect  who  designed 
the  State  House  and  many  other  notable  buildings  still  standing  in  Boston  and  else- 
where in  New  England.  He  was  prominent  in  the  civic  affairs  of  the  town  of  Boston, 
serving  as  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen.  Charles  Bulfinch  passed  his  latter 
days  in  the  old  family  home  when  it  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Coolidge  family. 
The  site  of  the  Bulfinch  house  is  now  covered  by  a  granite  block  which  bears  the 
name  Coolidge  Building. 


ROWE  HOUSE 

Bedford  Street 

John  Rowe,  who  was  born  in  Exeter,  England,  in  1715,  came  to  Boston  about 
1736,  having  then  bought  a  warehouse  on  Long  Wharf,  and  became  one  of  its  richest 
merchants.  He  married  in  1743  Hannah  Speakman,  but  had  no  children.  He 
purchased  in  1764  an  estate  on  the  northerly  side  of  Pond  Lane,  now  Bedford 
Street,  and  built  the  house  in  which  he  lived  until  his  death  in  1787.  In  his  pub- 
lished diary  he  records  as  follows  his  removal  into  his  new  house:  "Oct.  16,  1766, 
Slept  this  night  for  the  first  time  in  our  new  house  which  is  a  Very  Good,  Hand- 
some and  Convenient  house."  John  Rowe  also  owned  a  large  tract  of  land  opposite 
his  house,  which  extended  from  Bedford  to  Essex  Street.  Rowe  Street,  now  a  part 
of  Chauncy  Street,  was  named  for  him.  His  diary  shows  us  that  he  was  intimate 
with  the  wealthy  and  influential  families  of  Boston,  and  his  home  was  the  scene 
of  many  splendid  entertainments.  He  was  a  warden  of  Trinity  Church,  a  proprietor 
of  Long  Wharf,  a  selectman,  and  served  on  various  town  committees.  He  was  also 
Grand  Master  of  Masons  of  North  America,  receiving  his  commission  in  1768  from 
the  Duke  of  Beaufort.  The  Rowe  estate  was  sold  in  181 7  by  the  heirs,  Mrs.  Rowe 
having  died  in  1805,  to  Judge  William  Prescott,  and  he  lived  there  until  his  death 
in  1844,  as  did  also  his  son,  William  Hickling  Prescott,  the  historian.  The  house 
was  taken  down  in  1845,  and  the  site  is  now  covered  by  the  Bedford  Street  store  of 
the  Jordan  Marsh  Company. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS  HOUSE 
Corner  of  Boylston  and  Tremont  Streets 

In  1806  and  1807  John  Quincy  Adams,  then  a  practising  lawyer  in  Boston,  and 
son  of  John  Adams,  second  President  of  the  United  States,  bought  two  adjoining 
estates  at  the  corner  of  Frog  Lane  and  Nassau  Street,  now  Boylston  and  Tremont 
Streets.  In  the  home  which  Mr.  Adams  made  for  himself  here  his  distinguished  son, 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  was  born,  August  18,  1807.  Mr.  Adams,  however,  lived 
here  but  a  short  time,  for  in  1809  he  went  with  his  family  to  Russia,  having  been 
appointed  by  President  Madison  the  first  United  States  minister  to  that  country. 
John  Quincy  Adams  never  returned  to  Boston  to  live,  for  he  was  continuously  in 
public  life  in  Washington  and  abroad,  and  served  as  the  sixth  President  of  the  United 
States  from  1825  to  1829.  The  estate,  however,  remained  in  the  possession  of  the 
Adams  family  until  recently.  It  was  covered  for  some  years  by  the  Hotel  Boylston, 
and  is  now  the  site  of  the  Hotel  Touraine.  The  house  is  shown  back  of  the  lamp- 
post. 


GARDINER   GREENE  HOUSE 
Tremont  Row 

The  house  which  bore  the  above  name  during  the  first  third  of  the  nineteenth 
century  was  probably  in  its  best  days  the  most  elegant  residence  in  Boston,  being 
surrounded  by  spacious  gardens  and  occupying  the  crest  and  eastern  slope  of  Pem- 
berton  Hill,  or,  as  it  was  first  known,  Cotton  Hill.  It  was  built  about  1758  by 
William  Vassall,  and  in  1790  the  estate  became  the  property  of  Patrick  Jeffry,  who 
was  known  as  the  second  husband  of  the  wronged  but  eccentric  Madame  Haley. 
Jonathan  Mason  became  the  owner  of  the  property  in  1802,  and  in  the  following 
year  sold  it  to  Gardiner  Greene,  who  occupied  it  until  his  death  in  1832.  During 
Greene's  occupancy  it  was  the  scene  of  lavish  hospitality.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
the  estate  measured  three  hundred  feet  on  Tremont  Row,  and  was  appraised  at  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  dollars.  Gardiner  Greene's  widow  was  a  daughter 
of  John  Singleton  Copley,  the  eminent  painter,  and  sister  of  Lord  Lyndhurst,  once 
Lord  Chancellor  of  England.  She  survived  her  husband  more  than  thirty  years. 
When  the  great  improvement  of  Tremont  Street,  Tremont  Row,  and  Pemberton 
Square  was  made  in  1835,  the  Gardiner  Greene  estate  was  covered  with  buildings. 


PERKINS   HOUSE 
Pearl  Street 

James  Perkins  and  his  brother  and  business  partner,  Thomas  Handasyd  Perkins, 
wealthy  Boston  merchants,  purchased  of  Daniel  McNeill  in  1792  land  on  Pearl  Street, 
formerly  Hutchinson  Street,  after  the  destruction  by  fire  of  the  rope-walks  on  that 
thoroughfare,  and  built  thereon  two  homes.  Colonel  Thomas  H.  Perkins,  a  dis- 
tinguished Bostonian  of  his  time,  occupied  his  house  until  about  the  year  1834,  when 
he  removed  to  the  new  house  which  he  had  built  in  Temple  Place,  and  which  is  now, 
in  an  altered  condition,  the  banking-room  of  the  Provident  Institution  for  Savings. 
James  Perkins,  a  short  time  before  his  death  in  1822,  gave  his  mansion  to  the  Boston 
Athenaeum,  the  institution  acquiring  additional  land  by  purchase,  and  it  was  the  home 
of  the  Athenaeum  from  1822  to  1849,  when  it  removed  to  its  present  home  on  Beacon 
Street.  Soon  after  this  last  date  the  neighborhood  of  Pearl  and  High  Streets  be- 
came a  business  locality,  and  the  former  hospitable  mansion  was  swept  away  before 
the  march  of  improvement.  James  Perkins  died  at  his  summer  estate  "Pine  Bank" 
on  Jamaica  Pond,  which  is  familiar  to  frequenters  of  the  beautiful  pleasure-ground, 
Jamaica  Park. 


JOHN  PHILLIPS   HOUSE 
Beacon  Street 

The  house  which  John  Phillips,  afterwards  first  mayor  of  Boston,  built  in  1804 
at  the  corner  of  Beacon  and  Walnut  Streets,  was  the  first  one  built  on  Beacon  Street 
under  the  Copley  title,  Mr.  Phillips  having  acquired  his  land  from  Jeremiah  Mason. 
Mason  was  one  of  the  Mt.  Vernon  Proprietors,  and  had  improved  a  large  portion  of 
Beacon  Hill  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Mr.  Phillips  occupied  the 
house  until  his  death  in  1823,  and  it  was  here  that  his  distinguished  son,  Wendell 
Phillips,  was  born  in  181 1.  After  Mr.  Phillips's  death  the  estate  was  sold  in  1825 
by  his  heirs  to  Thomas  Lindall  Winthrop,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massachusetts 
from  1826  to  1832.  Mr.  Winthrop,  having  a  large  family,  increased  the  size  of  the 
house  materially,  and  changed  the  location  of  the  front  door  from  Beacon  to  Walnut 
Street.  Mr.  Winthrop  died  in  1841,  and  the  estate  was  sold  to  Thomas  Dixon,  mer- 
chant and  Dutch  consul  at  Boston.  He  lived  there  until  his  death  in  1849.  About 
1861  the  Phillips  mansion  was  purchased  by  Robert  M.  Mason,  who  occupied  it 
until  his  death  in  1879.     It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his  family. 


HARRIS   HOUSE 
Corner  of  Pearl  and  High  Streets 

About  the  year  1800  Jonathan  Harris,  a  Boston  merchant,  built  a  large  house 
on  the  estate  which  he  purchased  at  the  corner  of  what  is  now  Pearl  and  High  Streets. 
These  streets  were  formerly  Hutchinson  Street  and  Cow  Lane.  Its  great  cost,  how- 
ever, ruined  Harris,  and  he  lived  in  it  but  a  few  years  and  died  insolvent.  The  house 
was  therefore  called  Harris'  Folly.  Henderson  Inches,  a  well-known  merchant,  was 
a  later  occupant  of  the  house  or  a  portion  of  it,  until  his  removal  to  Beacon  Street 
about  185 1,  and  we  are  told  that  it  was  then  used  for  an  asylum.  When  business 
invaded  the  locality  the  house  was  taken  down,  and  its  former  site  was  covered  by 
mercantile  structures.  These  were  consumed  in  the  Great  Fire  of  1872,  and  others 
which  still  stand  took  their  place.  The  illustration  shows  "Harris'  Folly"  looming 
in  the  background  above  the  residence  of  Jeffrey  Richardson,  who  was  in  his  day 
a  well-known  merchant  of  Boston. 


AMORY-TICKNOR  HOUSE 
Corner  of  Park  and  Beacon  Streets 

The  house  which,  although  much  altered,  still  stands  at  the  corner  of  Beacon  and 
Park  Streets,  was  built  about  1804  by  Thomas  Amory,  a  Boston  merchant,  but  busi- 
ness reverses  prevented  him  from  occupying  it,  and  he  removed  to  Roxbury.  It 
was  later,  with  an  extension,  converted  into  several  dwellings,  and  was  for  some 
years  occupied  as  a  fashionable  boarding-house.  Several  distinguished  men  were 
occupants  during  the  early  part  of  the  nineteeenth  century,  notably  Christopher 
Gore  while  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  Samuel  Dexter,  an  eminent  lawyer  and 
cabinet  officer  under  President  Adams,  and  Fisher  Ames,  member  of  Congress.  In 
1825  the  city  of  Boston  rented  a  portion  of  the  house  on  Park  Street  as  a  temporary 
residence  for  General  Lafayette,  when  he  was  a  guest  of  the  municipality.  In  1830 
George  Ticknor,  the  historian,  became  an  occupant  of  the  easterly  portion  of  the 
Park  Street  side,  and  resided  there  until  his  death  in  187 1.  Here  was  his  large  library 
of  eighteen  thousand  volumes,  and  here  his  widow  resided  until  her  death.  In  1885 
the  entire  structure  was  given  over  to  trade,  and  to-day  it  is  the  abode  of  many  firms 
in  various  lines  of  business. 


OTIS-AUSTIN  HOUSE 

Beacon  Street 

It  still  stands  at  45  Beacon  Street,  retains  practically  its  original  outward  ap- 
pearance, and  was  built  by  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  one  of  the  Mt.  Vernon  Proprietors, 
and  mayor  of  Boston  from  1829  to  1832.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  a  city  govern- 
ment was  once  organized  in  this  house  by  the  mayor,  owing  to  his  indisposition  at 
the  time.  Mr.  Otis  first  occupied  the  house  in  1807,  he  having  sold  the  large  house 
still  standing  on  Mt.  Vernon  Street,  which  he  had  built  previously.  When  the  Beacon 
Street  mansion  was  built,  the  lot  of  land  on  which  it  stood  measured  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  on  Beacon  Street,  and  it  had  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-five 
feet.  Moreover,  there  was  a  garden  on  the  easterly  half  of  the  lot.  Mr.  Otis,  how- 
ever, sold  to  David  Sears  a  portion  of  his  garden,  on  which  he  built  his  house.  Mr. 
Otis  also  built,  between  his  house  and  Mr.  Sears's,  another  house  which  he  sold.  After 
Mr.  Otis's  death  in  1848  the  house  was  sold  to  Edward  Austin,  who  occupied  it  until 
his  death  in  1898.     The  estate  is  still  in  the  possession  of  his  relatives. 


LAWRENCE   HOUSE 

Tremont  Street 

In  1810  Charles  Bulfinch,  the  eminent  Boston  architect,  who  was  doing  so  much 
at  that  time  to  beautify  his  native  town,  designed  Colonnade  Row,  which  embraced 
the  stately  dwelling-houses  on  Tremont  Street  from  West  to  Mason  Street.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that,  after  General  Lafayette's  visit  to  Boston  in  1825,  this  por- 
tion of  Tremont  Street  was  called  Lafayette  Place  for  several  years,  and  that  to-day 
Lafayette  Mall  stretches  southward  on  the  Common  from  Park  Street.  In  the  year 
1 82 1  Amos  Lawrence,  who  became  later  one  of  Boston's  eminent  merchants  and  who 
was  associated  with  his  equally  distinguished  brother,  Abbott  Lawrence,  in  the  great 
firm  of  A.  &  A.  Lawrence  &  Co.,  bought  of  David  Greenough  for  twenty  thousand 
dollars  the  easterly  house  of  the  Row,  at  the  corner  of  West  Street,  and  resided  there 
until  his  death  in  1852.  The  estate  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Lawrence  family, 
and  some  years  ago  the  attractive  dwelling-house  was  replaced  by  a  business  struct- 
ure bearing  the  name  of  the  Lawrence  Building.  At  the  present  time  a  more  lofty 
and  ornate  Lawrence  Building  is  taking  its  place  among  the  mercantile  houses  of 
Boston.     The  house  is  shown  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  picture. 


HINKLEY  HOUSE 

Beacon  Street 

The  double  granite  mansion  which  formerly  stood  at  the  corner  of  Beacon  and 
Somerset  Streets  was  built  after  the  War  of  1812  by  David  Hinkley,  a  rich  merchant, 
who  bought  the  land  in  1810  of  Jeremiah  Allen,  High  Sheriff  of  Suffolk  County.  After 
Mr.  Hinkley's  occupancy,  for  a  few  years  before  his  death  in  1825,  it  became  the  home 
of  Benjamin  W.  Crowninshield,  who  died  in  1851.  In  1852  the  house  became  the 
home  of  the  newly  formed  Somerset  Club,  and  was  so  used  for  twenty  years,  when 
the  club  acquired  by  purchase  the  mansion  house  of  David  Sears  on  Beacon  Street. 
The  easterly  house  on  Beacon  Street  was  occupied  by  Benjamin  Wiggin,  merchant, 
whose  death  occurred  about  the  year  1825.  In  1825  the  house  was  sold  to  Joseph 
Peabody,  of  Salem,  whose  daughter,  Catherine  Peabody,  had  recently  married  John 
L.  Gardner  of  Boston,  and  the  Gardners  resided  in  the  house  for  about  forty  years. 
In  1872  the  combined  houses  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Congregational  Society, 
which  constructed  stores  on  the  first  floor  and  used  the  upper  part  for  society  pur- 
poses. In  1904  the  Hinkley  houses  were  taken  down  and  a  new  building  erected 
on  the  site.     It  is  now  a  portion  of  the  store  of  the  Houghton-Dutton  Company. 


QUINCY  HOUSE 
Park  Street 

The  house  which  stands  at  No.  5  Park  Street,  and  is  the  third  house  in  the  fore- 
ground, was  built  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  was  the  home  in  which  Josiah 
Quincy  passed  the  evening  of  his  life.  It  has  since  been  converted  into  offices.  Quincy 
bought  the  house  in  1857  of  William  Gray,  who  had  recently  inherited  it  from  his 
uncle,  Francis  C.  Gray,  who  resided  there  until  his  death.  Josiah  Quincy  is  best 
remembered  as  the  "Great  Mayor"  of  Boston  and  as  a  great  president  of  Harvard 
University.  His  fellow-citizens  placed  him  as  well  in  other  positions  of  trust  and 
honor.  After  resigning  the  presidency  of  Harvard  University,  he  resided  for  several 
years  in  Beacon  Hill  Place.  From  there  he  removed  to  Park  Street,  which  was  then 
a  beautiful  residential  street,  facing  the  Common.  He  died  in  Quincy  in  the  summer 
of  1864. 


PRESCOTT  HOUSE 
Beacon  Street 

At  No.  55  Beacon  Street  there  stands  a  stately  dwelling-house  which  was  built 
early  in  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  the  home  of  the  distinguished  historian, 
William  Hickling  Prescott,  for  the  last  fourteen  years  of  his  life,  and  in  it  he  died  in 
1859.  Mr.  Prescott  had  lived  with  his  family  and  parents  in  the  Rowe  mansion  on 
Bedford  Street,  formerly  Pond  Street,  but  in  1845,  the  year  after  the  death  of  Judge 
William  Prescott,  the  estate  was  sold  and  the  old  house  taken  down.  It  was  then 
that  the  historian,  who  was  at  the  height  of  his  fame,  bought  the  Beacon  Street  dwell- 
ing from  Augustus  Thorndike,  of  Newport,  R.I.  It  faced  Boston  Common,  and  was 
an  ideal  home  for  a  man  of  letters,  containing  Prescott's  large  library  and  a  study  in 
which  he  did  his  literary  work. 


PARKMAN  HOUSE 

Bowdoin  Square 

The  large  granite  double  house  which  stood  for  years  at  the  western  end  of  Bow- 
doin Square  was  built  about  1816  by  Hon.  Samuel  Parkman,  a  rich  merchant.  He  was 
father  of  Dr.  George  Parkman,  who  was  murdered  in  1849  by  John  White  Webster. 
Samuel  Parkman  was  the  grandfather  of  Francis  Parkman,  the  historian.  Samuel 
Parkman  lived  in  the  house  at  the  corner  of  Green  Street  until  his  death  in  1824.  The 
house  at  the  corner  of  Cambridge  Street  was  occupied  by  his  son-in-law  and  daughter, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Blake,  Jr.  Mr.  Blake,  however,  died  in  181 7,  and  his  widow 
lived  in  the  house  until  her  death  in  1847,  sharing  it  with  her  mother  from  1824  until 
her  death  in  1834.  After  Samuel  Parkman's  death  his  former  home  was  occupied  by 
his  son-in-law  and  daughter,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  G.  Shaw,  and  they  lived  there 
until  about  the  year  1840,  when  they  removed  to  the  corner  of  Beacon  and  Joy  Streets. 
Mr.  Shaw  was  an  eminent  merchant,  and  was  grandfather  of  Colonel  Robert  G.  Shaw 
who,  at  the  head  of  his  colored  troops  in  the  Civil  War,  gave  his  life  for  his  country. 
The  Parkman  houses,  both  falling  into  the  possession  of  the  Shaw  family,  remained 
standing  until  a  few  years  ago;  and  the  site  is  now  covered  by  a  business  structure 
which  bears  the  name  Parkman  Building. 


SEARS   HOUSE 

Beacon  Street 

There  stands  at  No.  42  Beacon  Street,  facing  Boston  Common,  the  large  and 
elegant  granite  mansion  which  was  built  by  David  Sears,  who  inherited  great  wealth 
from  his  father,  David  Sears,  merchant.  The  western  half  of  the  house,  two  stories 
in  height  and  containing  one  circular  bay,  was  built  in  182 1.  The  entrance  then  was 
on  a  court-yard  on  the  easterly  side  of  the  house.  In  1831  Mr.  Sears  doubled  the  size 
of  the  house  and  made  it  three  stories  in  height.  This  made  the  house  the  most 
costly  one  of  the  day  in  Boston,  and  its  owner  lived  in  it  until  his  death  in  1871. 
It  became  the  property  of  the  Somerset  Club  in  1872,  and,  even  in  these  days  of  lux- 
urious club-houses,  makes  an  ideal  home  for  Boston's  representative  club  on  Boston's 
representative  street.  Hon.  David  Sears  was  in  his  day  a  leading  citizen  of  Boston. 
Born  in  1787  on  the  same  street  on  which  he  died  eighty-three  years  later,  his  social 
position  was  always  high  in  his  native  town  and  city.  He  was  also  prominent  in 
political  life,  and  served  the  Commonwealth  in  both  branches  of  the  legislature.  His 
charitable  endowments  were  numerous  and  large,  and  endure  to  this  day. 


WEBSTER  HOUSE 

Junction  of  Summer  and  High  Streets 

At  the  corner  of  Summer  and  High  Streets  stood  for  years  the  house  which  was 
for  ten  years  the  home  of  Daniel  Webster,  whom  Boston  delighted  to  honor  as  the 
first  citizen  of  the  city,  and  whose  memory  still  lingers  in  the  place  of  his  adoption. 
Mr.  Webster  first  occupied  the  house  about  1828,  he  having  bought  the  estate  in 
1825,  and  he  lived  there  until  1839,  selling  it  in  that  year  to  Hon.  Peter  C.  Brooks 
for  thirty-two  thousand  dollars.  It  was  in  1830,  during  his  residence  in  this  house, 
that  Webster,  then  a  leader  in  the  United  States  Senate,  made  his  celebrated 
reply  to  Senator  Hayne  of  South  Carolina,  in  which  he  defended  with  his  matchless 
eloquence  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  which  had,  in  his  own  words,  "kept 
him  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  for  so  many  years."  Peter  C.  Brooks,  who  lived 
in  the  house  until  his  death  in  1849,  was  a  distinguished  Bostonian,  and  was  reputed 
to  be  one  of  the  richest  men  of  his  day.  He  was  the  father-in-law  of  three  eminent 
citizens  of  Boston, — Hon.  Edward  Everett,  Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  and  Rev. 
Nathaniel  L.  Frothingham,  D.D.  When  advancing  trade  swept  away  the  man- 
sions of  Summer  and  High  Streets,  the  house  was  taken  down  and  a  mercantile  struct- 
ure was  erected  in  its  place.  After  the  Great  Fire  of  1872  a  second  building  was 
erected,  which  bears  on  its  front  wall  the  inscription  "The  Home  of  Daniel  Webster." 
The  house  appears  in  the  center  of  the  picture. 


EVERETT  HOUSE 

Summer  Street 

Hon.  Edward  Everett  and  his  wife,  Charlotte  Gray,  daughter  of  Hon.  Peter  C. 
Brooks  of  Boston,  became  possessed  of  the  estate  32  Summer  Street  by  the  divi- 
sion of  Mr.  Brooks's  property  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1849.  Mr.  Everett,  who 
had  recently  resigned  the  presidency  of  Harvard  College,  became  the  occupant  of 
the  house  in  1852,  and  resided  there  until  his  death  in  1865.  He  was  then  by  common 
consent,  the  first  citizen  of  Boston,  and  the  announcement  of  his  death  called  from 
President  Lincoln,  only  three  months  before  his  own  death,  a  proclamation  telling 
the  country  that  the  sad  event  had  taken  place.  Mr.  Everett  filled  numerous  offices 
of  trust  and  honor,  the  most  important  ones  being  those  of  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 
Minister  to  England,  and  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States.  He  was  an  accom- 
plished scholar,  and  also  possessed  great  eloquence  and  charm  of  manner.  These 
combined  to  make  his  career  one  that  will  be  long  remembered. 


CHOATE  HOUSE 
Winthrop  Place 

The  neighborhood  of  Church  Green  was  a  favorite  residential  locality  for  Bos- 
tonians  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  At  3  Winthrop  Place,  now  at  the 
western  end  of  Devonshire  Street,  shown  back  of  its  lamp-post,  was  the  house  which 
was  the  home  of  Hon.  Rufus  Choate,  one  of  Boston's  eminent  citizens,  from  1851 
until  his  death  in  1859.  Mr.  Choate  bought  the  estate  of  William  Ward,  a  Boston 
business  man,  and  Ward  acquired  it  in  1846  from  Isaac  McLellan,  merchant,  who  had 
built  it  some  years  previously.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  during  Mr.  McLellan 's 
occupancy  of  the  house  a  reception  was  given  there  to  General  Lafayette,  when 
he  visited  Boston  in  1825,  by  General  William  Hull,  whose  daughter  married  Mr. 
McLellan.  Rufus  Choate's  death,  however,  did  not  occur  in  this  house.  Owing  to 
failing  health,  he  sailed  for  England  in  company  with  his  son,  but  soon  became  so  ill 
that  the  steamship  docked  at  Halifax,  N.S.,  to  put  him  ashore.  He  died  there,  July 
13,  1859.  Mr.  Choate's  attainments  as  a  lawyer,  scholar,  and  orator  gave  him  great 
prominence  in  the  professional,  social,  and  political  life  of  Boston.  He  served  in  the 
national  House  of  Representatives  and  as  United  States  senator  from  Massachusetts. 


CHARLES   FRANCIS  ADAMS   HOUSE 
Mt.  Vernon  Street 

The  house  at  No.  57  Mt.  Vernon  Street  has  to-day  the  same  outward  appearance 
as  when  it  was  built  early  in  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  in  1842  the  home  of 
Charles  Francis  Adams.  He  occupied  it  until  his  death.  Mr.  Adams,  who  married 
in  1829  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Peter  C.  Brooks  of  Boston,  was  a  prominent  citizen  for 
many  years,  and  had  the  distinction  of  being  respectively  grandson  and  son  of  the 
second  and  sixth  Presidents  of  the  United  States.  He  was  elected  in  1858  a  mem- 
ber of  the  national  House  of  Representatives  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  session  in  1861  was  appointed  United  States  minister  to  England 
by  President  Lincoln.  In  this  office,  during  the  Civil  War  and  for  three  years  after- 
wards, Mr.  Adams  served  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  nation.  He  returned  to  Europe 
in  1 87 1  to  represent  the  United  States  in  the  Alabama  Claims  Tribunal  at  Geneva, 
Switzerland.  The  decision  of  the  Tribunal,  by  which  England  paid  to  the  United 
States  fifteen  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars,  gave  great  satisfaction  to  Mr.  Adams,  and 
he  returned  to  his  native  land  considering  this  to  be  the  crowning  achievement  of 
his  life.  Mr.  Adams  died  in  1886  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age,  and  his  widow 
survived  him  less  than  three  years. 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS   HOUSE 

Essex  Street 

The  modest  dwelling  No.  26,  and  later  No.  50,  Essex  Street,  was  the  home  of 
Wendell  Phillips,  the  anti-slavery  leader,  from  1841  until  the  year  1882,  when  it  was 
taken  down  for  the  extension  of  Harrison  Avenue  from  Essex  to  Bedford  Streets. 
While  living  in  this  house,  Mr.  Phillips  accomplished  his  great  work  in  the  anti- 
slavery  cause,  and  he  was  aided  in  it  by  his  wife,  who,  although  a  confirmed  invalid 
for  more  than  forty  years,  was  always  deeply  and  actively  interested  in  her  husband's 
labors  for  the  African  race.  After  leaving  their  old  home  in  Essex  Street  in  1882, 
Wendell  and  Ann  Phillips  removed  to  Common  Street,  a  distance  of  half  a  mile. 
There  they  found  an  old  house  on  an  old  street,  and  in  it  they  passed  the  evening 
of  their  lives.  He  died  in  1884,  and  she  followed  him  in  a  little  more  than  two  years. 
The  illustration  shows  Mr.  Phillips  standing  on  the  steps  of  his  Essex  Street  home, 
the  front  door  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  Collections  of  the  Bostonian  Society. 


ANDREW  HOUSE 

Charles  Street 

A  walk  through  Charles  Street,  which  skirts  the  river  from  which  the  street  de- 
rives its  name,  shows  us  the  house  which  was  the  home,  during  the  closing  years  of 
his  life,  of  John  Albion  Andrew,  who  will  ever  be  remembered  as  War  Governor  of 
Massachusetts.  In  1855  Mr.  Andrew,  who  was  then  a  practising  lawyer  in  Boston, 
removed  his  home  from  Hingham  to  Boston,  and  became  the  occupant  of  71,  now 
no,  Charles  Street.  He  resided  there,  having  purchased  the  estate  in  1862,  until 
his  death  in  1867.  He  had  been  active  for  some  years  in  the  anti-slavery  movement, 
and,  as  a  result,  was  elected  Governor  of  Massachusetts  in  i860,  at  the  opening  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  held  that  office  until  the  close  of  the  year  1865.  His  service  to  the 
Commonwealth  and  the  Nation  during  the  Civil  War  makes  a  record  of  which  Massa- 
chusetts is  justly  proud.  The  tax  upon  Governor  Andrew's  strength  during  his  term 
of  office  as  governor  resulted  in  his  death  before  he  had  attained  the  age  of  fifty  years. 


TRINITY  CHURCH  RECTORY 

Clarendon  Street 

The  house,  No.  233  Clarendon  Street,  at  the  corner  of  Newbury  Street,  is  note- 
worthy as  having  been  the  home  of  Phillips  Brooks  from  the  fall  of  1880  until  January 
23,  1893,  when  he  died  within  its  walls,  lamented  by  the  entire  nation.  The  house 
is  the  rectory  of  Trinity  Church,  and  as  such  was  built  conformably  to  the  taste  of 
Dr.  Brooks,  then  rector  of  the  church.  He  was  therefore  its  first  occupant,  and 
he  continued  to  reside  in  it  after  his  election  to  the  bishopric  of  Massachusetts  in 
1891.  After  Bishop  Brooks's  death,  another  story  was  added  to  the  house,  and  it 
was  then  occupied,  until  his  death,  by  Rev.  E.  Winchester  Donald,  D.D.,  who  suc- 
ceeded Phillips  Brooks  as  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  and  it  is  now  the  home  of  Rev. 
Alexander  Mann,  D.D.,  the  present  rector.  Phillips  Brooks  was  a  favorite  son  of 
Boston.  Born  within  its  walls  in  1835,  he  was  educated  at  Harvard  College,  and 
afterwards  for  the  ministry  in  Virginia.  Returning  to  his  native  city  in  1869,  after 
a  rectorate  in  Philadelphia,  he  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the  moral  and 
religious  uplift  of  his  fellow-citizens.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  Phillips 
Brooks  was  the  best-known  and  best-beloved  preacher  who  ever  occupied  the  pulpit 
in  this  country. 


HOLMES  HOUSE 

Beacon  Street 

The  house  No.  296  Beacon  Street,  with  the  bay  window,  is  of  interest  to  Boston- 
ians  as  having  been  the  home  of  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  professor  and  poet,  from 
the  year  187 1  until  his  death  in  1894.  The  house  is  on  the  water  side  of  Beacon  Street. 
Dr.  Holmes  was  professor  of  anatomy  and  physiology  at  the  Harvard  Medical  School 
for  many  years,  and  as  such  was  the  instructor  of  students  who  became  distinguished 
physicians  and  surgeons.  He  was  even  more  widely  known  as  one  of  the  group  of 
men  of  letters  who  made  Boston  famous  as  a  literary  centre  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  He  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  literary  as  well  as  medical  pub- 
lications and  periodicals.  Besides  his  poems  and  his  best-known  novel,  "Elsie 
Venner,"  he  wrote  several  books  of  essays,  the  best  known  being  "The  Autocrat  of 
the  Breakfast  Table."  After  the  appearance  of  the  last-named  volume,  Dr.  Holmes 
was  always  known  as  "The  Genial  Autocrat." 


MELVILLE  HOUSE 
Green  Street 

The  home  of  Thomas  Melville,  the  last  of  the  " cocked  hats"  in  Boston,  stood  for 
many  years  on  Green  Street,  formerly  Green  Lane,  near  Bowdoin  Square.  He  bought 
the  estate,  a  part  in  1788  and  a  part  in  1800,  and  lived  in  the  comfortable  house 
erected  there  for  about  forty  years.  He  is  recorded  as  a  resident  of  Green  Street 
as  early  as  1796,  and  he  died  there  in  1832.  Major  Melville — for  such  was  his  title — 
was  a  well-known  citizen  of  Boston  for  many  years.  He  participated  in  the  Boston 
Tea  Party  in  1773,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  Naval  Officer  and 
Surveyor  of  the  Port  of  Boston  from  1789  to  1829.  He  was  popularly  known  as  the 
last  man  in  Boston  to  wear  a  cocked  hat  and  knee-breeches,  and  as  such  was  immor- 
talized by  the  poet  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  who  wrote  of  him  in  his  poem  "The 
Last  Leaf": — 

"I  know  it  is  a  sin 
For  me  to  sit  and  grin 

At  him  here; 
But  the  old  three-cornered  hat 
And  the  breeches  and  all  that 

Are  so  queer." 


DEACON  HOUSE 

Washington  Street 

This  mansion  was  built  on  Washington  Street  at  the  South  End  about  1848  by 
Peter  Parker,  a  wealthy  Boston  merchant,  for  his  son-in-law  and  daughter,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Edward  Preble  Deacon.  It  was  designed  like  a  French  chateau,  and  the 
extensive  grounds  which  surrounded  it  were  enclosed  by  a  high  brick  wall.  The 
entrance  to  the  house  was  on  Concord  Street,  through  double  gates,  beside  which  was 
a  porter's  lodge.  The  Deacon  family  lived,  however,  but  a  few  years  in  the  great 
house,  and  went  abroad,  where  Mr.  Deacon  died  about  the  year  1851.  Mrs.  Deacon 
and  her  children  returned  to  America,  and  lived  again  in  the  house,  but  later  returned 
to  Europe  to  live  permanently.  The  house  and  its  contents  were  sold  at  auction 
on  the  first  three  days  of  February,  187 1,  soon  after  the  death  of  Peter  Parker,  and 
the  event  was  a  noteworthy  one,  as  thousands  of  Bostonians,  admitted  by  ticket, 
crowded  the  mansion  before  the  sale  to  view  the  splendor  of  the  house,  furniture, 
and  works  of  art.  The  estate  is  now  practically  covered  with  buildings,  but  a  portion 
of  the  mansion  still  stands,  and  on  it  the  passer-by  on  the  elevated  train  reads  the 
words  "Deacon  Halls." 


GARRISON  HOUSE 
Highland  Street,  Roxbury 

At  125  Highland  Street,  Roxbury,  on  an  elevation  thirty  feet  above  that  thor- 
oughfare, stands  "Rockledge,"  which  was  for  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life  the 
home  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  the  anti-slavery  leader.  He  died  in  the  city  of 
New  York  in  1879,  while  there  on  a  visit.  Mr.  Garrison  removed  to  Roxbury  in  1864, 
after  having  lived  in  Dix  Place,  Boston,  for  eleven  years.  It  was  in  Dix  Place  in 
the  years  preceding  the  Civil  War  that  he  accomplished  so  much  of  his  great  work 
in  the  cause  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  "  Rockledge  "  was  the  suburban  home  in 
which  he  passed  the  last  part  of  his  life.  His  former  residence  is  now  occupied  as 
the  Saint  Monica  Home  for  Aged  Colored  People.  William  Lloyd  Garrison's  career 
is  a  part  of  the  history  of  Boston,  and  indeed  of  the  country.  It  was  said  of  him,  when 
he  died,  by  a  metropolitan  newspaper  which  had  reviled  him  when  living,  that  his 
life  "was  lived  with  a  simplicity,  singleness  of  purpose,  and  unflinching  devotion  to 
a  self-imposed  task  rare  in  the  annals  of  any  time  or  any  land." 


HALE   HOUSE 
Highland  Street,  Roxbury 

At  39  Highland  Street,  Roxbury,  near  Eliot  Square,  stands  a  house  of  generous 
proportions,  showing  a  two-storied  Ionic  portico  in  front.  It  was  the  home  for  forty 
years  of  Rev.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  D.D.,  who  was  called  at  the  time  of  his  death 
"  Boston's  Grand  Old  Man."  In  1869  Dr.  Hale  bought  the  estate,  which  had  been 
the  home  of  William  Goddard,  and  he  lived  there  until  his  death  in  1909.  Edward 
Everett  Hale,  who  was  born  in  Boston  in  1822,  was  a  son  of  Hon.  Nathan  Hale,  a 
well-known  Bostonian  of  his  time,  and  he  was  named  for  his  uncle,  the  distinguished 
Edward  Everett.  He  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Nathan  Hale,  the  martyr  spy  of 
the  Revolution.  He  was  educated  at  Harvard  College,  and  became  a  clergyman, 
but  he  was  also  widely  known  as  an  author.  Countless  productions  of  his  pen  have 
been  published,  and  some  of  his  stories,  notably  "The  Man  without  a  Country,"  are 
classics.  Dr.  Hale,  for  the  greater  part  of  his  long  life,  was  a  leader  in  the  religious, 
philanthropic,  and  literary  activities  of  his  native  city.  He  was  known  nation-wide 
as  the  founder  of  the  "  Lend-a-Hand "  movement. 


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